Minorities rights body accuses ministry of non-cooperation.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD -- The one-man commission on minority rights regretted before the Supreme Court on Thursday that it was facing defiance and non-cooperation from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in implementation of the apex court's 2014 judgement about establishment of a council for protecting minorities' rights.

In a five-page report, the Dr Shoaib Suddle commission requested the apex court to seek an explanation from the ministry's secretary over the violation of an undertaking given by him to the court on Feb 19, 2020 for the establishment of a statutory National Council for Minorities, saying this alleged defiance constituted the contempt of court.

The commission also requested the apex court to order the ministry to withdraw or withhold any notification already issued or being issued in contravention of its undertaking before the court. The report sought a directive for the secretary to implement paragraph 37(iv) of the 2014 Supreme Court judgement in its true spirit and in meaningful consultation with the commission.

The commission had been constituted by the implementation bench of the Supreme Court on the directives of the then chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa on Jan 9, 2019. The purpose of the commission was to oversee the implementation of the SC judgement delivered by former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on June 19, 2014, in a suo motu case taken up by the apex court after the bombing of a church in Peshawar in 2013 that killed over 100 people.

Supreme Court's 2014 verdict required government to establish council for protecting minorities' rights

The paragraph 37(iv) of the judgement required setting up of the National Council for Minorities which should monitor the practical realisation of the rights and safeguards provided to the minorities under the Constitution and the law. The council should also be mandated to frame policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities' rights by the federal and provincial governments, the judgement had said.

Encouraged by the ministry's Feb 19, 2020 assurance to the court, the report recalled, the one-man commission commenced internal consultations with the committee set up by the court and proceeded to draft a proposed bill for the establishment of the National Council for Minorities.

Subsequently, the commission had on April 20 circulated a draft bill on the establishment of the council to the religious affairs ministry and other stakeholders...